Domelle's in the 1940 Federal Census

Still taking a detailed look through the 1940 census and this time I focused on looking for Domelle families.  It's another unusual surname like my Kleylein surname.  I wrote an earlier blog post that describes what I know about the origin of my Domelle line.  There are 2 variations on the name in the US, it's either "Domelle" or "Domele" and I'm told that the heads of the families of these 2 variants were cousins.  Whether they were first cousins or 15th cousins I have no idea but the name is rare enough that I'm relatively certain they are related.

Today I just looked in the 1940 US Federal census for any occurrence of the name "Domelle" or its variant "Domele".

Here is what I found:


1) There are 9 households of Domelles in the US in 1940 (6 Domelles and 3 Domeles).  There could be 1 or 2 more but they are currently spelled so incorrectly in the ancestry database that I couldn't find them.  I might stumble across them later.  :-)

2) 5 of them are in the northwest corner of Indiana (4 in Newton County, 1 in Lake County).

3) 3 of them are in Chicago, IL (not far from the northwest corner of Indiana - also 2 of those were young Domelle ladies on their own in the big city).

4) 1 of them wandered over to Tompkins County NY (thank goodness since that's where he met my grandmother!).


My direct line is the Newton County, Indiana 2-L Domelle branch of the family.  It's my grandfather there in NY - he left behind the farm in Newton County.

Below is a map showing the distribution.  Just one big cluster except for the 1 outlier over in NY.

Originally all the Domelles were in Chicago, but my great-grandfather and his brother moved down to Indiana to farm land for a family friend that owned it.

Kleyleins in the 1940 US Federal Census

I actually have scheduled some time to wallow in genealogy this holiday season and today I began that wallowing by going through the 1940 census.  I will admit that I am a bit disappointed in some of the transcription errors I came across (I've been using Ancestry and I know it was all out-sourced.).  For instance, "Andrene" instead of "Andrew"?  Come on.

But I'll also admit that the surname I searched on is not an easy one for transcribers or enumerators.  Kleylein is a rare surname.  Growing up I was so frustrated and wished my last name was Smith.  Once I started genealogy though I counted my lucky stars for such an unusual name.  I discussed its origin a bit in an earlier blog posting.

Today I just looked in the 1940 US Federal census for any occurence of the name "Kleylein" or its variant "Kleilein".

Here is what I found:


1) There are 12 households of Kleyleins in the US in 1940 (10 Kleyleins and 2 Kleileins).  There could be 1 or 2 more but they are currently spelled so incorrectly in the ancestry database that I couldn't find them.  I might stumble across them later.  :-)

2) 5 of them are in the Baltimore, Maryland area. 

3) 4 of them are in either Brooklyn or Queens, NY.

4) 1 of them are in Miami, Florida.

5) 2 of them (the Kleileins) are in Richland County, Ohio.


My direct line is the Baltimore branch of the family.  It's my grandfather there in Miami living with his mom and step-dad - he came from the Baltimore Kleyleins.

Below is a map showing the distribution.  Just a handful of clusters except for the 1 outlier way down in Florida.

Most of the Kleyleins are first generation immigrants or the children of those immigrants.  It looks like the Kleileins were here earlier, in the 1800s and may have actually migrated to Ohio from Pittsburgh.  That, however, is research for another day.  :-)

Mix Children in the 1940 Census

My grandmother Ann (Mix) Domelle was one of 10 children born in the Finger Lakes region of New York between the years 1905 and 1927.

Now that we have the 1940 census available, I went and looked up each of the Mix children to see where they were living at the time of the census.

1. Floyd Mix, the eldest, was living on Shaffer Road in Newfield, Tompkins County, NY.  In his household was his wife Rena, their 4 children Betty, Beverly, Floyd Jr and Jean.  Floyd's dad, William Mix, was also living with them.  Floyd was 34 and working as a farm laborer.  His dad was also working, listed as a laborer.

2. Spencer Mix, the 2nd eldest, was missing (as usual).  Spencer left the area in 1933 and no one in the family heard from him again.  I was unable to locate him in the 1940 census so he either avoided it or gave another name.  He would have been married to a woman named Helen Smith with one child.  I was unable to locate them as well.  I do have Spencer's death certificate, but for now, his whereabouts in 1940 are still a mystery, as apparently, he wanted them to be!  :-)

3. Laurance Mix, the 3rd child (and yes, that's how his name is spelled) was living on Niagara Falls Blvd, up in Wheatfield, Niagara County, NY.  In his household was his wife Hazel and their 2 children Laurance Jr and Jessie.  Laurance was 29 and working as a millwright.

4. Mazie Mix and her twin Daisy Mix were the 4th and 5th children and the 1st girls in the family.  I'll focus on Mazie here for the moment.  She was living in a rural area of Seneca, Ontario County, NY.  She was married to John Patrick and they lived with their son John.  Mazie was 27 and had no occupation listed so of course she was taking care of the house.

5. Daisy Mix was living at home with her mom Cornelia (Akins) Mix Simpson and her step-Dad Leon Simpson and 4 of her younger siblings.  Their home was at 402 Center St, Ithaca, Tompkins County, NY.  Daisy was 27 and working at housework in private homes. 

6. William Mix, the 6th child and 4th boy, was living in Chatham, Tioga County, PA.  In his household was his wife Mary and a hired hand named Leonard Coazer.  William was 26 and working as a farmer.

7. Leslie Mix, the 7th child and 5th boy, was living at home with his mom Cornelia (Akins) Mix Simpson and his step-Dad Leon Simpson, his older sister Daisy and 3 of his younger siblings.  Their home was at 402 Center St, Ithaca, Tompkins County, NY.  Leslie was 21 and working at farm work.

8. Ann Mix (my grandmother), the 8th child and 3rd girl, was living at home with her mom Cornelia (Akins) Mix Simpson and her step-Dad Leon Simpson, her older sister Daisy, older brother Leslie, and 2 of her younger siblings.  Their home was at 402 Center St, Ithaca, Tompkins County, NY.  Ann was 20 and working at housework in private homes.

9. John Mix, the 9th child and 6th boy, was living at home with his mom Cornelia (Akins) Mix Simpson and his step-Dad Leon Simpson, his older sisters Daisy and Ann, and 1 younger sibling.  Their home was at 402 Center St, Ithaca, Tompkins County, NY.  John was 14 and attending school.

And last, but certainly not least!

10. Donald Mix, the 10th child and 7th boy, was living at home with his mom Cornelia (Akins) Mix Simpson and his step-Dad Leon Simpson, his older sisters Daisy and Ann, and his older brother John.  Their home was at 402 Center St, Ithaca, Tompkins County, NY.  John was 13 and attending school.

Finally, below I marked on a map the locations of the children of William Homer Mix and Cornelia Elizabeth (Akins) Mix Simpson as based on the 1940 Federal census.  Other than Spencer, the Mix kids tended mainly to stay around the New York and very northern PA area, which I greatly appreciate as I do my research.  :-)

Wordless Wednesday - 19 December 2012

Wordy Wednesday - 12 December 2012

This is my Uncle Steve.  The story behind this slightly crooked photo is that it was taken by my mom, his younger sister, who was due to have a baby soon - the first of the 3 siblings to have a child.

He had been away and while he was gone, my mom had me (unexpectedly - a few weeks early) and no one told him.  When he got home, he went to visit with his sister, she was in her bedroom supposedly resting.  On his way to the bedside, he walked past the bassinet and this is the look on his face when he realized there was a baby in it!  That baby was me, and my mom managed to snap this wonderful picture from the bed.

Surprises like that aren't easy to pull off any more - we're so intimately connected with everyone.  It's a lovely picture that I'm so grateful to have!